Issue Archive

Laser Tracker Ensures Accurate Alignment of Ares I Components

Making its first flights to the International Space Station by the middle of the
next decade, the Orion crew exploration
vehicle is part of the Constellation
Program, which will send human explorers
back to the Moon, and then to Mars
and other destinations in the solar system.
Future astronauts will ride into orbit on
Ares I, Orion’s launch vehicle, which uses
a single, five-segment solid rocket booster.
NASA’s first test flight, called Ares I-X, will
provide NASA with an early opportunity
to test and prove the hardware, facilities,
and ground operations associated with
the Ares I.

NASA Langley Research Center in
Hampton, VA, is facilitating the build-up of
the Ares I Crew Module, the Launch Abort
System, and the Separation Ring Assembly.
Langley chose the FARO Laser Tracker for
its portability, ease-of-use, and ability to
achieve extremely high accuracy levels.
The system was used to establish an accurate
Flight Test Article (FTA).

Precision layouts on large surface
tables were essential to aligning the
large build components of the Launch
Abort System (LAS). During the installation
of permanent fasteners, the laser
tracker was used to monitor any movement
in the parts and help technicians
maintain critical tolerances that were
on the engineering drawings. On the
Crew Module (CM) upper bulkhead
assembly, the laser tracker was used for
critical template alignment. These
templates assured the holes were accurately
aligned so that the CM and LAS
would fit together correctly when the
time came to mate the two pieces of
hardware together.

The tracker was also used to create a
model coordinate system that is an
exact replica of the engineering CAD
model. This makes the use of build
points possible where large parts of the
structure can be tweaked into the correct
alignment system with other existing
FTA components. Spatial Analyzer
Software was used with the FARO Laser
Tracker in helping to effectively manage
the entire buildup of the Ares I-X
CM LAS.

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